Defrosting the Snowman
by Devon Shea
Summary: Arthur never expected snowmen to wave at him when he moved to Ealdor. Surprise!


The estate agent who had sold Arthur the house never mentioned snowmen that could wave their stick hands at him when she took him on a tour of Ealdor. She also hadn't mentioned that the only thing to do when a snowman was waving at you and grinning with its coal mouth was to wave back with one hand as you slowly reached behind you for the door handle with the other. All Arthur could think of at the moment was that he'd seen this movie, and none of the human characters had come out the better for it.

He was insanely happy he'd started getting into the country habit of not bothering to lock his doors, even if his sister chided him for it. It meant he just had to turn the handle gently and step back inside before closing the door and leaning against its solid bulk as he tried to catch his breath. He straightened up quickly. He'd seen enough horror films to know that the character that stood against the door got stabbed by something sharp coming through said door the moment they relaxed. Was this some sort of country prank on the city boy? If it was, then it was a good one.

Arthur eventually moved slowly toward the window and looked out, just in time to see the snowman trundle off on its–feet? How the hell did it move? There were no legs, just a massive ball of snow. He went back to the door and opened it carefully, alert for any waiting snowmen that were ready to pounce.

The snowman didn't turn around, or even acknowledge that Arthur was standing there. It just kept moving down the street until it got to the corner and turned. Arthur shook his head and decided he didn't want to know. He didn't want to know how the snowman from the yard next to his, for that's what it was, came to life and just walked off. He was simply going to ignore Ealdor's version of Frosty the Snowman, just as he'd ignored all the other strange things that had happened since he'd moved here.

His plan would have worked, too, if it hadn't been for that gorgeous distraction who lived down the street slamming his own door as he ran out of his house frantically. Merlin was some sort of writer from the talk Arthur had overheard down at the local. Right now, he was a mess. It was obvious he'd just woken up, because he was wearing pajama bottoms with golden snitches and an unzipped parka thrown over a threadbare grey tee. His normally messy hair stuck up in all different directions as he raced up the street toward Arthur's house.

"No. No. No. This is bad." Merlin stopped in front of the empty yard where the snowman had stood just last night, his hands going up to clench his head, mussing his hair up even more.

Arthur jingled the keys to his car in his hand, drawing the brunet's attention as he closed his front door. "Something going on, mate? You're not even dressed."

"Oh, uh, Arthur. No. No. Nothing's going on. Everything's fine." Merlin dropped his hands, crossing them over his body as he stammered, obviously trying to come up with some sort of explanation that didn't sound completely mental.

"Funny." Arthur joined Merlin on the sidewalk and looked at the spot, which now held only a gouged-out track in the snow. "I could have sworn there was a snowman there last night."

"Really? Wow, the kids, um, the kids must have knocked it down." Merlin nodded. "Yeah, that's it. The kids knocked it down." Merlin started backing up, the oversized unicorn slippers he'd shoved his feet into scuffing along the sidewalk. "Have to go now, Arthur. Happy-"

His words were cut off when Arthur lunged forward a bit, grabbing his arm, and asked him in a voice much more level than he really felt, "Merlin, why did I just watch a snowman wave to me, then walk down the street? If this is some sort of prank-"

"You saw which way it went? Where? Arthur, please tell me." Merlin had gotten his own grip on Arthur's arm, the panicked expression taking over and displacing the purposeful calm he'd tried to display a few moments ago. "Arthur?"

Arthur would have answered him, but his attention had been snagged by the sight of two more snowmen walking (or was it gliding?) down the street the first had turned down not ten minutes before. "Merlin? What is going on?"

Merlin turned and cursed as he watched the two–no, three, if you counted the one that was only about a foot high–snowmen heading in the direction of Ealdor's town square. He shrugged off Arthur's hand and darted toward his house.

Arthur didn't even stop to think before following after him, holding the door open when Merlin would have shut it behind him. Merlin dashed down the hallway to a bedroom, throwing off the parka as he ran and letting it fall to the floor behind the couch as he passed. When Arthur realized Merlin was getting dressed, he picked up the parka and decided to wait in front of the door. He was going to get an explanation, his earlier determination to ignore the snowmen forgotten.

Arthur heard Merlin's body thud heavily against the floor, the low groan followed by another curse making him smirk a a bit. He looked around the rooms he could see from the doorway. The house was a bit of a mess, but not overly so. The large table by the window in the dining area was covered by sheets of paper. One with drawings of snowmen on it had fallen to the floor next to the chair. Arthur walked over and picked it up, curious.

He could translate neither the chicken scratch Merlin called writing nor the words themselves. They seemed to be in some other language. He looked up as Merlin rushed into the living room, searching the ground by the couch. "What? I swear it-"

"Looking for this, Merlin?" Arthur held up the parka and took not a small amount of inner glee at the blank look on the man's face.

"How'd you get in here?"

"Through the front door, right after you." Arthur lifted the sheet of paper in his other hand. "Care to explain?"

Merlin's mouth moved silently for a few moments, his bright eyes trained on the paper with the snowmen all over it. Finally, his shoulders slumped and he expelled a deep breath. "It's magic, Arthur. I did it. By accident, I swear!" Merlin held his hands up in front of him. "But you can't tell a soul. Uncle Gaius is going to kill me as it is."

"Magic?"

"Yes?"

"As in hocus pocus, open sesame, alakazam, and all that rot?"

Merlin moaned, the sound of it doing more to Arthur than he liked to admit. "No! As in magic is a real force of nature, and yes, there are magic spells, but they exist more to direct the magic in a certain way."

"And this force of nature caused the Hemmings' children's snowman to get up, wave at me, and walk down the street?" Arthur frowned. "Do you take me for a fool?"

Merlin frowned right back. "I take you for someone who saw it with their own eyes and is just too unwilling to believe." Merlin stalked over to Arthur and grabbed his parka. "I may have accidentally turned them alive last night. I didn't mean to, but I got home from Uncle Gaius' party just a little more drunk than I should have been. When I woke up this morning, I saw the spell plans and realized what I must have done. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go round them up and send them back to where they came from, or my magic will be revealed to everyone. I sincerely do not want to become a lab experiment, thank you very much."

He put his parka on and stomped over to the door. "Now, where the hell did I-" Merlin started rooting under the couch, his arse wiggling in the air in such an innocently indecent way that Arthur couldn't help but be reminded that it had been far too long since he'd been on a date.

Crowing in triumph, Merlin sat up and held a pair of boots up in the air. He turned and saw Arthur standing in the same place he had been. "Still here? Go home, Arthur."

The glare wrinkling his brow made Arthur want to go over there, gather him up, and kiss him until his brow smoothed over again. He never would have thought that a look of annoyance would have been attractive on anyone before this. Even as adorable as Merlin was, Arthur hardly knew the man, so he certainly didn't expect what came out of his own mouth next.

"I'll help you."

"What?" Merlin looked up from where he was sitting on the couch, pulling his boots on. "Don't you have some big, important thing to do at the bank?"

Arthur shrugged. "We're only open a half-day on Christmas Eve. I had a bit of paperwork, but I am the boss. I can call in sick if I must."

Merlin peered at the blond suspiciously. "Why would you do this? Help me, I mean. You've pretty much ignored me since you moved in."

"Maybe I've been moved by the Christmas Spirit?" Arthur didn't want to tell the man in front of him that he'd hardly ignored him these last few months. It was more like he'd tried as hard as he could not to pounce on him whenever they met and nibble that little strip of skin on his neck that was usually hidden by Merlin's godawful scarves.

It was official, Arthur decided. His next trip to Camelot would involve at least one visit to the most disreputable club he could find. Unless- Unless this was finally his chance to really get to know Merlin. The first couple of months he'd been here, he'd been so preoccupied getting the new branch of Pendragon Bank up and running that he hadn't really had time to interact socially with the locals. Once he did, well, he'd accidentally established a reputation as being standoffish and wasn't quite sure how to correct it.

"Really, Merlin. I'll help you gather up your errant snowmen. Maybe you can even convince me that this magic of yours is real."

"Mm-hmm." Merlin finished tying his boots and stood up. "All right, Arthur, I could probably use the help, and the gods know Uncle Gaius will murder me if I call him. Will would be too busy laughing at me to be of any use, if he's even sobered up yet, and Mum, well, Mum would kill me deader than Uncle Gaius would."

He walked back over to Arthur and pulled the piece of paper out of his hand. "I need to read these again to see exactly what I ordered them to do."

Arthur was close enough that he could smell the lingering alcohol on Merlin's breath, but he could also smell the slight scent of coconut that must have been in the shampoo Merlin used the night before. He still hadn't even combed his hair, and Arthur wanted nothing more than to smooth it down and see if it was as soft as it looked.

"Okay! I think I-" Merlin's voice cut off as he looked over and seemed to realize just how close the two of them were standing. His eyes widened just a bit before he shook himself and took a step back. "Ahem. I must have had Frosty the Snowman on my mind when I worked up this spell, because they're all going to the town square."

"I figured that out already. How are we going to head them off and get them back to their respective yards? It's nearly daytime. There will be people shopping the High Street in a few hours." Arthur nodded to the paper. "Can you just turn them around before they get anywhere people will see them?"

"Well, most people haven't left for work yet. It's still early." Merlin frowned. "Hold on, why were you going in so early?"

Arthur shrugged. "It's easier to get some things done when I'm alone in the bank, especially with the half day."

"Oh." Merlin seemed to gather himself back up, "Anyway, we have at least an hour before most sane people start getting out of bed to get ready for the day. The good thing is that this spell had a localized field. There should only be snowmen from the village itself, so most of them should already be at the square."

"If we get there fast enough, can you send them back to where they came from?" Merlin shrugged. Arthur didn't really like the sight of that. It didn't exactly inspire confidence. "Merlin?"

"Look, I'm still working on what we can do after we find them." Merlin blew his fringe out of his eyes. "Let's just make sure they're where I think they are, yeah?"

"Sure. Let's do that." Arthur started toward the door, "We're taking my car. I've seen yours in so-called action. I'm surprised it hasn't fallen apart yet." Arthur ignored the muttered 'prat' as he opened the door and headed to his car, Merlin behind him.

Arthur's car had been a gift to himself after graduating top of his class from university. It was no longer brand-new, but the stylish two-seater had been purchased with an eye toward long-lasting quality as much as his comfort. He enjoyed watching Merlin surreptitiously stroke the smooth leather of his seat, a tiny smile playing on his lips. That didn't mean he wasn't going to have a bit of fun at his expense. He'd realized he liked seeing Merlin's sharp cheekbones flush.

"How is fondling Hengroen's leather going to help you figure out how to get those snowmen back to their homes?"

Merlin's eyes snapped to Arthur's profile. His cheeks did indeed flush, with either embarrassment or annoyance, Arthur wasn't sure which, but he liked the sight and wondered just how far down the flush went. After this whole debacle was over, he was definitely going to ask the man on a date.

"I'm thinking. I'm just not sure- Hold on, did you just call your car by a name?"

Arthur felt his own cheeks flush. He was so used to thinking of the car as Hengroen that he'd forgotten to censor himself. Might as well brazen it out. "Well, of course. Anything this fine deserves a name."

Merlin grinned and Arthur felt the punch of it right in the solar plexus. "Mine is called Kilgharrah."

"You named that rattletrap?"

Merlin shrugged off the insult. "Hey, he's gotten me more places than he should have."

"How is it even still functioning?"

"Dad taught me how to repair him before he died a few years ago. We spent a lot of time fixing Killy up."

"I'm sorry, Merlin." Merlin nodded, his features tightening. Arthur could see that his father's death still hurt him. "My mother's gone. When I was a baby."

Merlin winced. "Sorry, Arthur. That must have been hard growing up without both parents."

"My father found a few replacements. Sort of. I'll have to tell you about the Catrina the Troll once we've managed to take care of these snowmen." Arthur couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to Merlin once they were finally in the same place for more than a few moments. It was strange, but nice. Talking to his sister was often more like a battle for dominance. Talking to his father was simply out of the question. If only he had been able to convince Leon to move to Ealdor.

The sadness in Merlin's eyes cleared as amusement warred with concern over their situation. "I think I might know what will work, but we have to be sure they're all there first, and hope no one else sees them."

"All right." Arthur slowed down as they approached the town square. They were too late.

"Damn it!" Merlin scowled as he saw the form of one of the constables standing on the edge of the square. "Oh, wait, it's just Lance."

The car came to a stop next to the junior constable, who stood with his arms crossed, just staring at the horde of snowmen surrounding the fountain at the center of the square. He sighed when Merlin got out of the car sheepishly.

"I tried calling you, but you didn't answer your phone."

Merlin quickly rooted around in his pockets, coming up empty. "Sorry, Lance, I must have left it in the charger."

"No, you left it at your uncle's house. He's on his way to yours to get you down here."

"Great. Just great." Merlin shook his head. "I'm so dead."

"Hello, Mr Pendragon."

"Constable DuLac."

"Oh, for- Just call each other Lance and Arthur. If you two are going to help me, you might as well be friends." Merlin huffed as he started toward the center of the square, walking carefully between the snowmen, who seemed quite intent on patting him as he walked by.

Lance's eyes crinkled at the corners a bit as he watched Merlin. "Does this seem just a little too Doctor Who-ish to you, Pen-, er, Arthur?"

"I was thinking of that American horror film from the 90s, personally." Arthur shook his head. "Should we let him go in there by himself?"

Lance snorted. "I'm inclined to. My girlfriend made me watch all of the Christmas Specials in a row yesterday, including the creepy snowman one. I'm happy right where I am."

"Are you two coming or not?" Merlin's voice rang clearly over the square.

"I guess that answers that." Arthur slowly started picking his way through the square, Lance at his back.

"So, why are you helping him?"

Arthur could have ignored the quiet question, but he answered anyway. "He looked so frantic and panicked. Not helping would have been like kicking a puppy or a kitten." Arthur shrugged, "Besides, I want to know more about this magic thing. It's hard to believe, but, well, I'm surrounded by snowmen who came here on their own."

"Yeah, Merlin's good for confusion." Lance shook his head, smiling fondly. "It's a good thing he never means harm, because he's not as careful with his magic as he should be."

"He said he doesn't want anyone to know, but you do."

Lance grinned. "He saved my life with it. My brakes failed and he managed to get my car stopped right before it would have plunged into the river. It was rather obvious that the car was floating on air, so I knew something was up. Merlin collapsed right after the car touched the ground, and he'd been reaching out as if he could hold onto the car, so-"

"You knew it was him."

"There was no other logical explanation. When he came around, I dragged the truth out of him." Lance stopped in front of one of the snowmen. "I hope Merlin does manage to get these things back where they're from. If he doesn't, Gwen's going to murder him. She knitted me this scarf last year."

Arthur snickered. "One of these things waved at me before it just sauntered off." He paused. "Does a snowman saunter if it doesn't have legs?"

"Hell if I know. Let's ask the troublemaker."

"Ask me what?" Merlin was close enough to hear just the last part of their conversation.

"You would answer to that," Arthur muttered.

Merlin shrugged as if he was so used to the accusation that it no longer occurred to him to deny it, which, given the current situation, Arthur was inclined to believe was actually the case. "Okay, I think I know the spell to send them back. Get behind me."

Arthur and Lance glanced at each other in the glow of the streetlights. "You think?"

Merlin scowled at Lance, "Well, there may be a ton of words I could use, but this should do it."

"Wait a minute." Arthur put his hand on Merlin's sleeve. "How are they going to get back home with this spell of yours?"

"The same way they got here."

Arthur pointed toward the horizon and the sun starting to peek above it. "People are going to be waking up now. They'll notice snowmen just randomly walking or gliding or whatever the hell they're doing down the streets."

"Oh."

"Yes, Merlin. Oh."

"Um, give me a minute to remember that invisibility spell."

Lance lifted his eyebrow. "You know an invisibility spell?"

Merlin waved him off. "Learned it years ago. Mum and Dad forbade me from using it when I was a teenager. It's, um, oh, crap." Merlin held his hand over his mouth as the panic returned to his eyes. "I don't remember it."

Arthur crossed his arms over his chest and gave the other man a _look_. "You know an invisibility spell, which any normal person would absolutely love to know, and you forget it? Are you really a wizard or not?"

"Oh, sod off. I'm not Harry-fucking-Potter."

"No, more like Neville Longbottom." Arthur and Merlin ignored the snorts coming from Lance as they squared off.

"Didn't you say you wanted to help?"

"Well, I see no way I can help you right now. You're just asking Lance and me to stand over in the corner like good little boys, while you forget your magic spells. Don't you wizardy-people have books with these things written down or something?" Arthur threw his hands up. "If your uncle is already going to your house, call him and see if he'll get it for you since you obviously forgot to bring it."

"Oh, that-" Merlin grimaced. "That's not a bad idea, actually." He looked at Lance and held out his hand. "Borrow your phone?" Lance handed it over silently, his eyes telegraphing his amusement clearly. "Shut up, Lance."

"Mmm."

Merlin drew in a deep breath as he dialed his uncle's mobile number. As the phone began to ring, he felt the two men's eyes on him and grimaced, walking away from them.

"So, Arthur, just going to say this now: I do have access to legal, as well as illegal ways to ruin your life if you hurt him." Lance grinned toothily at the blond, the threat clear in his quiet voice.

Arthur grinned back, just as toothily. "Don't worry. I just want to get to know him for now. Any pain later on will be completely consensual."

Lance snorted. "He'll keep you hopping, that's for certain."

Merlin returned a moment later, looking as if his puppy had just died. "Uncle Gaius was already on the way with the grimoire." He returned the phone to Lance.

"So why do you look like someone just poisoned your goldfish?" Arthur asked.

Merlin looked up at him, his slightly taller height diminished by his slumped shoulders. "I could hear the Eyebrow of Doom as he spoke to me."

"The what?" Arthur was confused by the phrase and even more so by Lance's reaction. The swarthy man sucked in his breath and reached out to pat Merlin on the shoulder.

Merlin cast his hangdog expression Arthur's way. "The Eyebrow of Doom. Uncle Gaius' most formidable weapon. If he uses it on you, you'll know and forever be cast back to the time when you were only five years old and decided that everyone would be happier if the saying 'raining cats and dogs' was actually true and decided to make it happen. Or when you were six and decided to do the same thing after you read _Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs_."

"Oh my God, Merlin." Lance had his hand over his mouth, trying to hold in his laughter. "Your poor parents."

Merlin shrugged as Arthur goggled at the neighbor he'd thought of as slightly daffy, if gorgeous and sexy in his unconventional way. This morning had been one surprise after another. The brunet had gone from someone Arthur stared at from a distance, wanting to see in as little clothing as possible, to someone who seemed to be both blithering idiot and brilliant savant at the same time, and Arthur found himself utterly charmed by it. Arthur was used to being Mr Pendragon-ed to death. Merlin hadn't once deferred to him. It was as refreshing as it was annoying. Merlin knew he was the branch manager of the only bank in Ealdor, but he couldn't care less.

His thoughts were interrupted by headlights approaching from the direction of Merlin's house. "Oh, here's Uncle Gaius." Merlin marched as quickly as he could between the massed ranks of snowmen, tripping lightly as he avoided crushing a snowman that wasn't even a foot tall. "Sorry," he apologized to it, patting its head as he picked himself back up. The little snowman arched itself into Merlin's hand as if it were a cat seeking one more scritch before it pounced on you for violating its arbitrary limit. "Aww."

Merlin met the old man on the edge of the square, "Thanks, Uncle Gaius. I appreciate-" He seemed to shrink into himself before he finished his sentence, turning quickly towards the center of the square, his eyebrows meeting in the middle as he led the man quietly through the square. When he got back to the fountain, he glared at Arthur, who was grinning like a fool. "Arthur, Gaius. Gaius, Arthur."

"Ah, is this the prat?"

"The 'prat', Merlin?" Arthur's grin slipped.

"You know what, I just can't right now." Merlin turned away from both men, holding the book in one hand and opening it with the other. A quiet snick accompanied the flashlight Lance turned on to help him see. "Thanks, Lance."

Arthur looked at Gaius and the old man looked right back at him, appraisingly, until his eyebrow slowly arched up and Arthur got a full appreciation of what Merlin meant by the Eyebrow of Doom. He wanted to apologize for whatever it was he had done wrong in each of his past lives. But he was a Pendragon. Pendragons did not apologize. Instead, he steeled himself and held out his hand. "Arthur Pendragon."

"Gaius Woodbead. You're the neighbor he keeps talking about. How did he rope you into this?"

Arthur shook his head as Gaius let go of his hand. "One of his snowmen waved at me when I tried to leave my house for the bank. Then he came running out in some very ridiculous slippers looking for it."

"Hey! Will got me those slippers for my birthday."

"They're stuffed rainbow unicorns, Merlin, and he gave them to you as a joke."

"Yeah, well, they're comfy, Lance. And I've found the spell." Merlin turned back to face the others, the gleam from the flashlight reflecting off the pages of the book and casting his face in an odd light. "All right, get behind me, all of you. Neither spell should affect you since I'll be targeting the snowmen, but better safe than sorry."

"Especially since there are snowmen all around us, including behind where we'd be standing?"

"Um, yeah." Merlin grinned wildly. "So it doesn't matter where you stand, but get behind me anyway, okay, Arthur?"

Arthur sighed as he moved with the others. Why was he following this crazy man? He never did anything that wasn't proper or logical. Arthur purposely blocked out the memory of his time at university and anything to do with his friend, Gwaine. He hadn't seen Gwaine in months, after all, since all he'd really been doing was working. Arthur peered at the back of Merlin's head and resisted the urge to smooth down his unkempt hair once more. He decided right then and there that Gwaine was never going to be introduced to Merlin. The two of them together would be unstoppably chaotic.

"Ready?"

"Just get on with it, boy. I'd like to go back to bed." Arthur finally noticed that Gaius was dressed, not in trousers, but in pajamas not unlike the type Merlin had been wearing that morning, although his were covered with images of Hedwig and Dobby.

"Right." Merlin reached his hand out over the book toward the snowmen gathered in the square in front of him. The snowmen all shifted toward him, as if they knew he was addressing them. Arthur stood straighter, ready to pull Merlin away if any of them made a move toward him. Merlin paused, taking in their attention. "Um, yeah. I promise you this won't hurt at all. I'm just sending you back to your homes, all right?"

Arthur hissed, "Just do it before they get any ideas, Merlin."

Merlin nodded and quickly chanted, "_Wenden frumcyn snawsceaft_." The four men watched as the various snowmen just looked placidly at Merlin, not moving an inch. "Well, hell. That should have worked." He looked at the book again and frowned. "Give me a minute."

"There's not much time, Merlin." Lance frowned as he looked toward the horizon.

While Merlin flipped through the book, Arthur noticed a bit of movement in front of him. He looked down and saw the little snowman Merlin had almost crushed to smithereens making its way between the larger creatures. It was moving slowly but steadily towards the men. Arthur watched it, his shoulders tensing, until it had placed itself squarely in front of the muttering wizard. Arthur reached out and tapped Merlin on the shoulder.

"What?"

"Look down."

"Oh! Hello." Merlin's look of concentration slipped and he started smiling. "You're the little guy I nearly tripped over, aren't you?" Arthur tried very hard not to be charmed as he watched Merlin lean down and pet the little snowman on the head, just as he had done earlier. "You're a cutie, aren't you?" The snowman seemed to enjoy it just as much as he had before and leaned into Merlin's leg.

"Merlin, you can't keep him. It. Whatever."

"I know, Arthur, but he's so adorable."

"And I'm sure the child who made him thinks the exact same thing." Arthur crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look as stern as he did when his cousin misbehaved. The look seemed to work about as well on Merlin as it did Mordred, which is to say, not at all. The brunet chuckled as he patted the little snowman on the head one more time before he stood back up.

"I know, I know. They need to go home." Merlin opened the book back to the page he'd written the original spell on at some point last night. "I just have to figure out the right phrase. Old Anglo-Saxon can be a real pain in the arse."

"Can't you just use locomotor or something?" Arthur was warily watching the tiny snowman, who seemed to like him just as much as it liked Merlin for some reason, make itself comfortable sitting on Arthur's expensive leather shoe.

Merlin huffed. "This isn't Harry Potter. I can't just use nonsense words, although I am impressed that you actually know that charm."

"Please, I Sorted on Pottermore just like the rest of the known universe. Proud Gryffindor, thank you very much." He tried to subtly pull his foot out from under the little snowman, who just seemed to relax even more. Arthur gave up and just let it stay where it was. "You're what, a 'Puff?"

Merlin grinned up at Arthur, "Absolutely."

Arthur snorted. There was no way he was going to be able to insult the cheeky wizard when he was so blasted cheerful about his House. Arthur watched the man go back to studying the book. He let the sound of Merlin and Gaius' voices wash over him as he reached down and petted the snowman on his shoe. It was like having a cat park its butt on his foot. He half expected it to start purring.

A few more minutes of Merlin and Gaius consulting and arguing quietly over the book saw Merlin ready to try again. "Well, let's try this one. _Hwierfest frumcyn snawsceaft_."

Arthur and the others watched as the snowmen seemed to sigh, if that were possible, and slowly started turning around. The little snowman on Arthur's shoe drooped as it got up and started trudging away from the men, looking back almost forlornly. It reminded him of Mordred when he didn't want to go to bed and Morgause made him. He almost wanted to pick it up and console it.

"Okay. They're off. Now let's make sure no one sees them."

Merlin was about to read his next chant when Arthur tapped him on the shoulder once more. "Not all of them left. What about that one?" One of the largest snowmen was being left behind by all the rest, its head turning one way then the other as it watched the other snowmen drift past.

Merlin blew out a breath. "He _should_ be going back to where he came from. What the hell?"

"It's okay." Lance put his hand on Merlin's arm. "I saw him here yesterday on my patrol. This _is_ where he came from."

"Oh, all right. Then since the others are going, let's get the second part of this started." Merlin reached out again and chanted something different, although it all sounded like gibberish to Arthur. "_Bewreon utan gesihð snawsceaft_."

Arthur sucked in a breath. One moment all of the snowmen were there and the next they were all gone. "Wow." He shook his head. "Now what?"

"Now they go home, and we go home. I'd dearly love to take something for my hangover." Merlin closed the book and held it to his chest as his head bowed. "I'm tired." He looked at the three men behind him. "I'm sorry. Thank you for helping me. All of you."

Lance smiled and nodded. "I'm just going to get back on patrol, then. I need the time to think of a good excuse for spending as much of it as I have here." He left the other three behind as he walked slowly past where the town square snowman was supposed to be, keeping an arm out in front of himself so he'd feel any snowmen he might bump into.

"Merlin? I have a question. Are they still going to be...alive, for lack of a better term? How do we explain them waving at people, or turning their heads to look at them?" Arthur couldn't help but think of the little snowman and wonder if it would be lonely.

Merlin shook his head. "No, I have a spell that deanimates objects. I'll take care of it and turning them visible again when they all get home. If I do it too soon, they'll be stuck wherever they are and we'll have to somehow lug them home, which could be difficult because snow is heavy and I have no friggin' clue where they all came from to begin with."

"Ah, okay." Arthur rubbed his arms. The morning chill was finally starting to penetrate his jacket now that he'd been standing in the cold for so long and the adrenaline was wearing off. "We're stuck here for a bit, then, aren't we? If we drive away now and they're invisible, we risk running them over in the street. That just seems a bit rude."

Merlin rubbed his head with the hand not holding the book. "Um, yeah. And we'll just have to hope the streets stay clear for another half hour or so to let them all get home safely."

"Well, I'm not going to wait. I'm old, and I'm cold, and I'm tired. Merlin, send me home. I don't give a fig about your hangover. You can drive my car home and either walk home or have Arthur follow you." Gaius handed his keys to his nephew and crossed his arms expectantly as he stared him down.

"Sure, Uncle Gaius." Merlin quickly spoke another chant in that odd language he'd been chanting and Arthur stumbled back as a gust of wind came up from the ground, swallowing Gaius in a swirl of snow. When it settled, he was no longer there, and Arthur couldn't help but stare for a moment at the empty space before him.

Merlin staggered slightly, exhausted from the number of large spells he'd worked in only a few hours' time. Arthur reached forward and caught him, holding him against his chest to keep him steady. Merlin was warm, like a banked fire. Maybe it was the magic in him. Merlin stiffened for a moment, then relaxed against him, his head tilting back until it rested on Arthur's shoulder as he closed his eyes and sighed. Neither spoke for a minute, their faces so close Arthur could feel the stubble of Merlin's morning scruff on his cheek.

"So, this was sort of a horrible first date, Arthur, but I like the way it's ending."

Arthur rubbed his cheek along Merlin's and smiled. "Agreed, Merlin. But I'm planning the next one."

* * *

**This was my submission for WinterKnights 2018. I don't know why I never posted it here.**

**Merlin belongs to Shine and the BBC.**


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